ISAIAH 43:2 – “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

ISAIAH 48:10 – “I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.”

THEME OF THE DAY: LESSONS FROM THE FURNACE.  We will take many trips to the furnace, God’s furnace. It is a painful place, but a necessary place. It is in the furnace of affliction, suffering, and trial God purges us from our sinful selfish tendencies to produce the sweet fragrance of Christ’s character.  The furnace burns away the dross of the flesh to develop within us “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).  But there are more results, actually lessons, God would teach us when He places us in the furnace.  Below are three such lessons.

First, we will enjoy a fellowship with the Lord that is deeper, more intimate, and brings a joy into our lives that we could not have known without trips to the furnace.  The Apostle Paul suffered intense persecution, and it was in those moments, the Lord appeared to Him in a time of sacred communion – “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome”” (Acts 23:11). Suffering draws us near to the Lord, and the Lord nearer to us.

A second lesson we learn in the furnace is greater dependency on God’s grace. Again, the Apostle Paul serves as our example – “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Corinthians 1:8-10). The furnace of affliction empties us of self-sufficiency and causes us to rely upon God exclusively.  This is one of the most important lessons to learn in the furnace. We only know the fullness of Christ when emptied of self.

There is a third lesson taught in the furnace of affliction and that is the ability to identify with and minister to other sufferers.  We actually get equipped in the furnace to minister to others in their furnaces – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Always remember, what we go through isn’t about us, but for the Lord’s glory and to make us greater instruments of God’s grace to others.  And this is hard to remember in the furnace but remember we must.

Trips to the furnace. We cannot avoid them so pray that we are teachable when God sends us there. He has valuable lessons to teach us that can only be learned in the furnace of affliction.

PRAYER:  Father, make me eager to learn the lessons I need when You place me in the furnace of suffering.

REFLECTION:  When God places us in His furnace of suffering remember He goes into it with us.